I love the Oregon Coast

We spent a few days at Cannon Beach in August. It's tradition. I love it. The kids love it.. and so does Brandon! My Mom was watching Ben's kids for a week so they came along for a couple of days. Ellie just LOVED having her cousins come with us! I love the views, relaxing by the beach, and the adorable little beach town. Although we are at the beach, it is COLD ocean water. No one in our family fully gets in the water. It is more just about playing in the sand, finding sea creatures at Haystack rock and playing in the shallow water. My Mom just about froze while she was there. She expected warm beachy weather. She was coming from Guatemala- the land of eternal spring. She is not accustomed to cold weather and it was pretty chilly our first couple of days. It warmed up to 80 degrees by the the end of our trip, but my Mom was already heading back home by then. It was fun to show my Mom around one of our favorite little spots. I can't wait for next summer!

Ellie lost her first tooth!

Big news at the Rowley household. Ellie lost her first tooth! She was pleasantly surprised when the tooth fairy gave her a dollar AND let her keep her tooth. We had to make sure to clarify that it is JUST the first tooth that the tooth fairy would let her keep. Since then she has lost a second tooth as well. Her permanent tooth starting to grow in behind her tooth and I had to do some convincing that her tooth had to come out!!

Whirligig at Seattle Center

There is an annual 2 week Whiligig extravaganza at the Seattle Center. I took the kids last week and they had a great time. Ellie couldn't get enough of the slide.
Ellie helping her baby brother into the gumball machine. Tommy was less than thrilled and immediately came out of the contraption! He was plenty entertained just watching Ellie jump.

Patiently waiting in line!

Simple fun

Tommy hanging out in the toddler zone. He wasn't sure about all of this chaos.

Once he realized it was BALLS he was surrounded by- it was all good.

Mr. Bunny

The Easter Bunny made a surprise visit at Story Time today! Tommy was a little timid at first (yes, Tommy is a bit shy at times- a BIG surprise to all of us!). He said, "I scared" a couple of times... but when it was his turn he went right up and gave the big guy a high five. He was happy to get the egg (not because of the contents inside which he, of course, couldn't eat) but because it was close enough to the shape of football! By the end of the session he wanted to give the Easter Bunny a hug.

My little baker

Tommy and I were busy in the kitchen baking. He wondered off and I didn't think much of it. It was quiet for a little too long so I went to investigate. Tommy had decided he wanted to bake on his own. Unfortunately I had left the flour storage bin open and Tommy had a little fun with it. For this little guy, this wasn't harmless fun. He broke out in hives (not pictured) from inhaling the flour. Poor baby.

Let it snow!

I love snow days! The kids love just getting pulled around in the sled. In Seattle you have to go play out in the snow first thing in the morning, because it is often either all slush or completely gone by noon!
We have a great sledding hill in our neighborhood. The kids had a fun time and we all got plenty of exercise!
Ellie's favorite part of a good snow day is the hot cocoa that is guaranteed after playing in the snow all morning.

Can't get enough...

...of this little guy. Seriously.. his smile is contagious. He has the happiest little attitude. I think he gets it from his dad :) I love the interaction between my two precious kiddos. The squeals of delightful laughter as they play together. Really, I can't get enough.....

Tommy's first haircut

At 21 months we decided it was time for Tommy's first official haircut. We had given his hair a little trim at home before but he need a real haircut. He has a habit of twisting his hair up top while sleeping or when he is tired, so it gets a bit unruly. I don't put gel in his hair because then he would have a crispy curl on top of his head! Anyway, it was time to trim it up so his crazy curl wasn't as long! Where did this little guy go? SportsClips
He loved it! He was a perfect little angel and stood completely still during the whole thing! He loved watching the game while getting his haircut.
Ahhh.. much better! Too bad I didn't get a better final picture!

Cookie Helpers

I had lots of help with the cookies this year!

We made 3 dozen sugar cookies for Ellie's "Winter Party."

And a couple dozen gingerbread cookies, just because it is the month of December and they are incredibly delicious. Ellie decided she wanted to maker her gingerbread cookies with pink frosting, I decided... sure, why not?

Too bad Tommy get to help eat them!

December Advent Calendar

December 5- Pictures in front of the tree

December 6- Ice Skating a the Holiday Rink
Tommy had a ball running on the ice. Brandon could hardly keep up with him!


December 6- Decorating our gingerbread house- I'm not sure if more candy went in the kiddos mouths or on the gingerbread house, but either way we had fun :)

Christmas Advent Calendar

December 1- Cooking decorating Sur la Table
December 2- Making snowflakes
December 3- Snowflake Lane
Tommy was a bit nervous about the mysterious large creatures dancing about.
December 4- Holiday Party

Holiday Parade

That smile says it all.....

First Snow of 2010

The kids had a ball playing out in the snow. Tom was just happy to be eating it :) Ellie loved making snow angels and was so happy when Daddy got home to take her sledding!

Pumpkin Patch

Despite having something like 2 full weeks of sunny days in Seattle this October, we waited until the last Saturday before Halloween before we got our pumpkin. Yes it rained. But we still had fun :)

Mount Rainier

On a beautiful sunny day in October we decided to make the trek to Mount Rainier to go on a little hike. We were pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful fall colors.

Ellie spotted a deer along the path. We also played a fun game of bear along the way.

The gorgeous view.